Wading In

kmc

kmc

Member
Hello All,
We decided to "wade" in to the saltwater aquarium hobby with a 29gal Oceanic Bio Cube. I'm not sure if this qualifies as a Nano but since we are starting small I'll start here. We just got the tank and set it up on Saturday and it has been running for three days now with 30lbs of live sand and 15 lbs of live rock. After looking at some of the other tanks on here I'm a little reluctant to post a pic but what the heck. Will continue to post as we get it established for a before and after effect. We welcome any feedback as we are pretty much at the mercy of our lfs and this site for advice so far.
 
hot883

hot883

Active Member
Welcome, thats a great start. The cycle will take 4-6 weeks so be patient. This is the hardest part of the journey, waiting for the cycle. Did you do anything to start the cycle as in put in a raw shrimp? Do not cycle with fish, very harmful to them. The LFS may try and sell you some damsels, but don't get impatient. Did you want a fish only with live rock (FOWLR) tank or were you going to go reef, with inverts and corals etc.? What were your fish choices? Post them here so we can help you avoid problems.
 
kmc

kmc

Member
Thanks Hot883,
We originaly intended to start with the fowlr but the more we see the more we are tempted to try some inverts as well. The guys at the lfs are preaching patience also so that is good. As for fish we want to try a Clarkii clown, maybe a pair of the percula clowns, a couple of blue chromis damsels and a coral beauty angelfish. We realize we will only add fish one or two at a time and that is after some snails and crabs. The only thing we are doing right now is adding a capful of 'stability' once a day per the lfs instructions.
 
hot883

hot883

Active Member
Don't mix clowns. Stick with one type and add those 2 together. The angel might not be to good in that size either. Again, these are just my thoughts and opinions. You may find varying ideas, but I'm not to far off. Ha!
 
millerman

millerman

Member
go with a pair of clowns a yellow clown goby and a shrimp goby they are cool because they have a very high (dorsal)fin
 
kmc

kmc

Member
Went to the lfs today for a water test. Said everything was looking good to keep cycling. Saw some cool looking LR so I added another 13lb piece. Thought it better to add now instead of later.
 
kmc

kmc

Member
Hot883, Thanks. I haven't been checking the water myself. I let the lfs check it today. The kit he used was of the color chart type. The Ammonia and Nitrites matched up with the "zero" color on the chart. He said the Nitrates were a little high but didn't semed concerned. Ph was like 8.1 and he thought that borderline low. We are not in a great hurry to start any fish yet. I'll get a kit next week and start checking myself.
Thanks
 
kmc

kmc

Member
After adding 13lb of LR to my 29 gal Bio Cube on Friday the Ph went from 8.1 on Friday to off the chart like 8.8 when I had it checked Yesterday. Everything else looked about the same as before. Ammonia and Nitrites at 0 and Nitrates at .25 or whatever the first reading above 0 was. Salinity was 1.021. Can adding LR cause the Ph to jump like that or was it different guys at the lfs doing the water check?
 
kmc

kmc

Member
I bought a test kit yesterday and tested the water myself for the first time this evening. Parameters I got are
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 5ppm
Ph between 8.0 and 8.2
Not sure what's going on with the Ph other than I did have to add a little RO water yesterday.
Any Thoughts?
 
kmc

kmc

Member
I think we are getting close to adding a clean up crew to our 29 gal Biocube. Tank has been running for close to two weeks now. Question is what would you consider a good crew for this tank. Live rock and live sand are all that are in there so far. Also, can/should cleaner shrimp be part of the initial clean up crew?
 
bill109

bill109

Active Member
Originally Posted by hot883
Don't mix clowns. Stick with one type and add those 2 together. The angel might not be to good in that size either. Again, these are just my thoughts and opinions. You may find varying ideas, but I'm not to far off. Ha!
if you want a nice angel go with the cherub. i just bought one today

mines a 30 gallon
 
hot883

hot883

Active Member
Originally Posted by kmc
I think we are getting close to adding a clean up crew to our 29 gal Biocube. Tank has been running for close to two weeks now. Question is what would you consider a good crew for this tank. Live rock and live sand are all that are in there so far. Also, can/should cleaner shrimp be part of the initial clean up crew?
What is the cleanup crew going to clean up if there are not fish in there yet? You will have to feed them and that will create alot of waste ie. uneaten food ie. nitrates, boooom ammonia.
 
kmc

kmc

Member
Originally Posted by hot883
What is the cleanup crew going to clean up if there are not fish in there yet? You will have to feed them and that will create alot of waste ie. uneaten food ie. nitrates, boooom ammonia.
Good question. I'm just going by what the guys at the lfs keep saying about adding crabs and snails before we add fish. So if we are to add fish first what are some good choices other than Damsels. I keep reading and hearing that they get nasty when you add other fish. Our "fish list" at this point is
a pair of clowns, either Perculas or Clarkii
a Cherub angel
a Flame Hawk fish
and maybe one of either a Yellow Watchman, Six Line Wrasse or Javanese Damsel
As always, any feedback is welcomed.
 
kmc

kmc

Member
Cycled the tank for three weeks and added our first fish tonight. So far so good. How do I get them to come to the top to eat?
Starsky and Hutch
 
hot883

hot883

Active Member
Nice clowns. They will eat in a day or two no worries. DO NOT add anything else for several weeks and monitor the levels ok?!!! It will be important to QT anymore fish now that you add. If you can set up a qt and research/buy the next fish now so they can be monitored for several weeks. Once they are ready to come out of qt, your tank can handle the bio load. Any questions, please ask. You are off to a great start already. Good luck. Barry
 
K

kalied20

Guest
I like your rock setup. I got a 24 gallon Nano with the same pair of clowns. They are fun to watch. I have added a lot of corals and a couple of other fish also. There is a Japanese Swallowtail Angel and a Golden Headed Sleeper Goby.
Here's a link to some of the pics I took recently.
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=234515
 
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